Her Family is Gone
by AutobotBecks
Summary: TFA/TFP. No one knew where Sari came from, only that she was an alien. Isaac Sumdac did his best to keep her safe by hiding her origins from the public and keeping her away from the strange beings that threaten to take her away. When their protection is no longer enough, her life becomes entangled with Team Prime and the war they brought to Earth.
1. 1

Her Family is Gone

AB- Something I have worked on for a while and got a decent head start so updates might be more often than Conflict at the moment, since I am writing those chapters currently. I do not own TFP/TFA. Please read and review since this is different than my usual plot line.

1

On the outside he was simply man walking down the road, clutching the hand of a child who had the hood of their raincoat up, obscuring their faces from view. Both of their backpacks weighed them down and the small girls began sliding off her back, bouncing both from the constant adjustment and her hasty steps. The man seemed to drag his daughter behind him obviously in a hurry to get somewhere. She was having a hard time keeping pace with her father it was only when he paused to consider picking up the child did he notice that there were multiple vehicles following them. For a second he hoped there was no need for concern but as they turned the corner with them he panicked. He kept moving only taking a brief moment to look at his daughter who seemed blissfully unaware, for what was probably the last time before letting go of her small hand. The girl's father, Isaac Sumdac muttered a quick, "I love you" to the child as the slick black car revealed a huge blaster. The man shoved the child forward hoping to give her a little more momentum before shouting, "RUN Sari! Don't look back just keep going and don't stop!" Isaac slowed his pace acting like he was blocking Sari from view with his body, knowing it would be his final act of protecting his child.

Isaac stood there ready to go, he knew this was the end of the line for him. Once Sari sped away from him, the man let go of the breath he did not realize he was holding. The comfort he felt at being with his daughter left him and the exhaustion of the years caught up with him all at once. Isaac raised an alien, protected her from everything and everyone who came after them and would perish doing the same. No matter what Sari was his child and he loved her more than anything else. He knew this would happen, Isaac understood for a long time there was only one ending for him, death for his involvement. The man only held onto one hope, Sari would be alright, no matter what he needed to believe someone would care for her the way he had. She appeared out of nowhere for a reason and he did not believe it was to be anything other than someone's child, she was not an alien, not to him and she wouldn't be to the person Sari came here to find. Isaac shut his eye as the sound of a blast filled his ears, his body burned for what felt like an eternity then nothingness filled him, peace.

Sari ran as fast as her legs could carry her, like she was told to do. She heard screaming and a loud boom behind her, only looking back to see the destruction. Tears escaped from her eyes as she kept going forwards, without her father she had no idea where to go. She did not understand what happened, the bad people were there but they had no reason to hurt her father. She noticed that the cars were no longer behind her, having lost her in the commotion but it did not change the fact that Sari was stranded on her own. The small girl in the raincoat walked into a park and sat under a huge tree, hoping someone would come find her or that stopping would help her find her way. Instead Sari remained in the park, terrified, crying and alone, waiting for her father to find her. He never came and she was too stubborn to move, fearing he would never find her if she moved from this spot. A few people tried to speak to her, ask if they could help her but Sari did not respond. She was not good with people and knew trusting strangers was not a good idea. Sari thought about everything that happened, she could hear her father tell her to run and feel his hand press against her back to push her forward but he was no longer there. Sari buried her face into her legs and made herself as small as possible, wanting to go home more than anything. She was tired, cold and hungry but instead of moving the child shut down, waiting for someone to find her.

Night fell and the police Captain still awaited a call from his best friend, Carmine Fanzone knew what Isaac Sumdac was trying to do and the huge risk it put both him and his daughter in. "If you don't hear from me by 8 P.M. they've intercepted me. I'll be gone and Sari will be in grave danger," Carmine could almost see Sumdac saying this to him a few days prior. Fanzone shook his head and ran through his hands through his blonde hair at the thought. He was at the scene of the explosion earlier that day and they had what they assumed to be Isaac Sumdac's body. Although none of the deceased could be identified on the scene since they were too badly burned, everyone awaited the labs results, especially Carmine Fanzone. Part of him wanted to hold onto the hope that Isaac had managed to get Sari out of the city. Carmine had told Sari goodbye last night, she believed her Dad was taking her on vacation and the excitement she had kept both adults calm even though it was a lie. He knew his friend had bought many bus tickets heading in different directions towards their random destination but when he did not receive a call, the police Captain left his house in search of Sari. Even if he was wrong about Isaac, there was no way he could let his niece spend the night on the streets if he was wrong.


	2. 2

Her Family is Gone

AB- I do not own TFA or TFP, if I did TFA would have a season four.

2

With a flashlight and hours of searching Captain Fanzone finally found Sari sitting under a huge tree in her raincoat. The girl's skin was freezing, her face was red and raw from crying. She seemed to be sleeping in an effort to conserve energy, on top of the fact she was most likely in shock. He gathered up the girl and loaded her into his car, deciding that getting her warmed up, fed and into bed was his first priority and the second one involved deciding what he was going to do if the news he feared receiving came. The police captain put all his energy towards getting Sari taken care of, so far the six year old had not roused in the backseat and it was only when he tried to gather her up to carry her into the house did the child react violently striking out at him as hard as she could. He let her get out of the car on her own and keep her distance from him, since Sari was on the defensive. Carmine decided to talk her down before Sari tried to run away from him, "It's okay Sari. Uncle Carmine's got you." When she looked at her Uncle, Sari reached up to hug him allowing Carmine to lift her into his arms.

"Uncle Car, I lost Dad," Sari spoke quietly as her Uncle carried her into the house and sat her down at his dining room table. Captain Fanzone started some soup for Sari before taking a seat next to her. "I did what he told me, but I still lost him."

"It is not your fault, you did what you were told and your Dad would be very proud of you for being such a good girl. No matter what happens, it's not your fault," Fanzone spoke to her gently, rubbing small circles on Sari's back. Only when he smelled the aroma of the warmed soup did he leave his niece and go to grab them both bowls and separate out portions for the both of them. Captain Fanzone expected Sari to be reluctant to eat but when he sat down the bowl in front of her, Sari pushed it away instantly and stated she didn't feel like eating. "You need to eat Sari, I know you might not feel like it but you haven't eaten anything since this morning and it will just make you feel worse tomorrow. Just drink some of the broth at least, it'll warm you up before bed."

Sari nodded and did what her Uncle asked, feeling the cold and exhaustion eating at her. He was right the warmth of the chicken broth helped her and she drank most of it before letting out a loud yawn. The girl rested her head against Carmine awkwardly and allowed her eyes to close. By the time Captain Fanzone finished his soup Sari was asleep next to him, he roused her enough to have her get her raincoat off and put on a clean pair of pajamas.

After he got her ready Fanzone scooped her up and asked her, "Do you want me to lay with you until you fall asleep?" Normally this was something Isaac did, Carmine had only filled the role when her father had to leave on business trips but at the moment he understood his niece needed his comfort after the things she witnessed that morning.

The red haired child nodded and with a another yawn and rub of her eyes, she spoke, "Can we sleep in your bed? Dad would let me stay in his room sometimes." He knew it was true, often times his friend let the child share his bedroom with him especially after something happened. Isaac had a hard time sleeping without Sari being close to him, since he never knew if one morning he would wake up and Sari would be gone.

Carmine sighed knowing she would ask, "I don't see why not. Only for tonight though, tomorrow you are going to sleep in your own bed."

Sari only held onto his shirt tighter as he walked her to his bedroom, she only let go when he sat her down on the bed. The girl took her usual spot on the one side of the bed while Fanzone grabbed his own pjs and excused himself to the bathroom to change. By the time he returned Sari lay with her eyes wide open on the verge of sleep but the child was fighting it obviously waiting for her Uncle's return. When he sat down on his side of the bed looking at her with a smile before lying down. "Close your eyes Sari, I will be here when you wake up in the morning," Fanzone promised. In an effort to help her get to sleep faster Fanzone told her the story of the day she was born, hoping the joy and happiness of the memory would reach her dreams. Once he knew Sari was asleep Carmine shut his own eyes feeling his niece snuggled next to him, seemingly unaware of the emotional turmoil happening within her Uncle. He forced himself to relax as best as he could, knowing tomorrow would change everything. There was no way to know what would happen in the morning, Carmine hoped Isaac would call. Sari needed him, Isaac knew more about her than her uncle and could keep her safe better. If he really was gone, Carmine wondered if they would let him take her in and what might happen to her if they found out what she truly was. Instead of sleeping soundly, he lay awake and once sleep took him Carmine tossed and turned.


	3. 3

Her Family is Gone

AB- Extra chapter for the tail-end of the Holiday.

3

Captain Fanzone woke up to the sound of his phone ringing, he answered it and quickly climbed out of the bed so his talking would not wake Sari. "Fanzone here," He stated knowing it was one of his officers on the other end.

"We were told to inform you of what the lab found out. Isaac Sumdac was among the deceased yesterday and since you are listed as his emergency contact you are the one that has to be notified. I know he was like a brother to you, I'm very sorry for your loss Sir," the Officer on the other end spoke calmly.

"Is there anything else you need from me?" Fanzone asked knowing his involvement in the case would be hindered since his closest friend died in the explosion.

"We need to locate Sari Sumdac. From the surveillance footage we recovered from before the tragedy it shows Isaac Sumdac with a small child but before the explosion the child runs through the crowd and so far no one has seen her," the Officer explained, "As of this moment she is presumed missing, at risk or possibly dead."

"Sari is with me, she showed up on my doorstep last night after everything," Captain Fanzone lied covering up his involvement in getting Sari to his house. "By the time she found her way here it was too late to bring her to the police station. My niece needed her rest and I didn't want to bring her into a situation that might not concern her."

"I'm informing CPS of her location and they will probably be sending a social worker to assess her condition. They will have her taken to the hospital to be looked over and after that I do not what will happen. There will be an investigation into her father's death since it appears Isaac was attempting to skip town," the Officer on the phone explained.

"Yes, I understand," Captain Fanzone responded trying to keep himself calm as the person on the other end said they'd be here in a few hours before hanging up.

Once he was alone with his thoughts it all hit them at once, even with being in charge of the business upon Sumdac's death he had no way of stopping them from taking Sari away. Especially if they took her to the hospital and saw that she is different, alien. Isaac never took Sari to a regular doctor knowing her vitals and life signs would not match a normal humans. Her father handled all of her medical needs, knowing full well if the government caught wind of what Sari was he would have more than just aliens after them. Tears began flooding out of his eyes at this point, at the realization he'd be losing all of his family, not just his brother but his niece as well.

Instead of wallowing Carmine decided to cook Sari breakfast and get her up before anyone arrived to speak with her, taking care of her and allowing her to be normal for another hour or two would not hurt either of them. As he cooked Sari got up and dressed herself before coming into the kitchen and climbing up onto the counter to give her Uncle a hard time.

"Where'd you go? You should still be sleeping," Sari commented absently.

"So should you, but here we are." Carmine smiled, motioning for Sari to get down off the counter which she did after a moment of hesitation. "Thought you would like a nice breakfast since you weren't hungry last night."

"I was too tired to be hungry Uncle Car," Sari responded innocently, "I had a long day."

Carmine shook his head. "Unfortunately today is going to be longer," Fanzone muttered mostly to himself.

"Did they find my Dad?" Sari questioned hope lining her tone, taking a bite of her pancake.

"Eat first and then we'll talk about it." From the tone of his voice, Sari knew that whatever they had to talk about was bad news. Fanzone drank a cup off coffee slowly as Sari finished up her pancakes and looked at her Uncle expectantly. Fanzone sighed standing up and walking Sari to the living room and sitting her down on the couch, taking the spot next to her. "Sari, do you remember what happened yesterday?" The child nodded in response.

Sari could almost see it like she was still there, her father suddenly letting go of her and shouting at her to run. What he didn't know was that Sari did look back, losing her Dad in the crowd and only narrowly getting out of there before the blast happened. The innocence in her wanted to believe he would be okay, but her heart felt him go, it already felt broken and very scared. "Dad didn't get away," Sari seemed to state but her voice sounded uncertain.

"He didn't get away. If he had, I have no doubt that he would be here this morning to get you and take you home," Carmine responded pulling Sari against him as the tears began to fall from her eyes.

"We weren't going back to the tower. Dad said he was going to show me new places," Sari muttered quietly. "Uncle Car, what's going to happen to me?"

Carmine shook his head. "I don't know kid, I really don't know. Whatever happens just know I will do everything I can to make sure you are safe." He felt awful for not promising to keep her, but understood lying would only hurt her more.

"I'm scared," Sari cried.

"I am too Sari," Fanzone muttered holding Sari closer to him as they waited for the police and Social worker to show up for them.

A loud banging on the door brought them out of their mourning, Captain Fanzone stood up carrying Sari over to the door to let them in. The officer and worker stepped in to get it over with. The Officer walked him to the bedroom while the Social worker wanted to talk with Sari on her own.

When they were done questioning Sari, the woman joined them in the bedroom and gave Captain Fanzone a glare. "Can you explain why that child has never seen a doctor? She's six and has never had a regular check up with a pediatrician! I know you are not her father but as a police Captain how could you stand back and allow Isaac Sumdac to neglect his daughter?"

"Isaac took care of all of her medical needs. He knew enough to keep his child healthy and that is all that matters," Fanzone argued in defense of his friend.

"And can you explain why instead of taking her to the hospital when you found her last night you kept her here? She was on the streets all day and could have been injured but you didn't have her checked," the woman shouted at him.

"It was late and from what I could tell Sari was okay." Carmine could feel himself getting more frustrated with this. "What else do you want?"

"You need to go down to the station to answer a few questions, we are taking that child for a well overdue check up to make sure everything is alright," the woman answered curtly before turning and going back to find Sari. "Okay Sari, we are going to take you into see a doctor."

Sari looked up at the women, Mrs. Byrd and questioned, "Is Uncle Carmine coming with us?"

Mrs. Byrd shook her head. "He has to go and talk with somebody first," she paused to look at Captain Fanzone, "but he can meet us there when he is finished if that would make you feel better." Sari nodded before running over to give Fanzone a hug and then reluctantly taking Mrs. Byrd's hand and allowing her to walk her out to the car with the policeman.

Carmine got ready quickly and almost sped to the precinct. He knew that if they ran tests on Sari things would blow up quickly and he needed to be there when and if it happened. This scenario was the second thing worrying him, the first was the reason why Isaac tried to run with her in the first place.


	4. 4

Her Family is Gone

4

For Special Agent Fowler today started normal, monitoring both alien and terrorist activity to keep his higher ups happy was his main goal, along with checking in with Optimus Prime sporadically when things got too quiet. As he finished up one of his meetings on the terrorist activities of M.E.C.H. and what leads they had on there leader Silas, his partner Charlotte Mearing burst into his office and gave him a look. "What's going on Mearing?" Fowler barked, hoping it would not be over something trivial again.

"Sir, we have a problem," Charlotte stated placing her laptop down on the desk urging him to look over the file on the screen.

Agent Fowler could not figure out why he was looking over a child's medical file. "If this is some kind of joke Mearing, you know better than this. We have a lot to keep track of, how is this Sari Sumdac a problem? Be specific with me, please."

"Look at her blood work," Charlotte responded.

When he looked over the file Agent Fowler understood what the issue was. The child's blood read more like Energon than human blood. No one at the hospital could understand what it was besides an anomaly but the cons finding out or other people catching wind of this would blow their cover amd rain down the fury of his bosses for allowing it to happen. This child held the key to screwing everything up for them and Agent Fowler knew he and Mearing had to get there to do damage control. "Lock the hospital down, we are heading there immediately." Agent Fowler stood up and walked Mearing out of the building and to their chopper.

As Sari sat in the doctor's office with Captain Fanzone, when a loud commotion started outside. The child got down off the bench and came over to sit on her uncle's lap. Silently the man vowed to keep Sari safe no matter what came next, there were things he knew about the girl no one could help. Not even Isaac truly knew where she came from, only the fact she was his child and that he raised her as best as he could. "Don't worry Sari. We're going to be fine," he tried to soothe her worries and only after the pediatrician and social worker returned did two other join them.

"As of this moment any and all information here is classified. I'm Special Agent Fowler of the FBI and this is Agent Mearing. Mearing walk Sari and Captain Fanzone out of the hospital and to the car we had brought here, I will be right behind you when I make sure all evidence of her being here is gone," William Fowler commanded flashing his badge and opening the door for Sari and Agent Mearing to go.

Sari allowed the Agent to hold her hand as they walked quickly out of the office and walked out to the car waiting outside for them, she let Captain Fanzone get into the car as she buckled Sari in. It surprised Fanzone that Mearing started the car and peeled out of the parking lot heading in the direction of the closest FBI headquarters.

When they made it Charlotte Mearing escorted the two of them into the building. The young woman commandeered an office and located a child-interrogation room for the girl to sit in while the adults spoke. "Sari, I want you to go in there and play with the toys okay?" Sari nodded and went in there without another word. "Me and your Uncle will be across the hall in this office talking."

"Why are we here?" Carmine questioned wondering if the woman would even give him an answer.

"For the safety and protection of Sari Sumdac. Also to ensure the knowledge of aliens on this planet stays away from the general public." Fanzone opened his mouth to argue but Charlotte put up a hand. "We both know she's more than just a simple human child. You and Isaac Sumdac have done your best to keep her off the radar but I think Agent Fowler and I are going to take it from here," Agent Mearing explained in her usual no nonsense tone. The woman steeled herself for the argument that she could feel coming, the hurt on the police captain's face gave her all of the information she needed.

"How can you guarantee her safety better than I could?" Captain Fanzone argued. "I've known Sari since she was a baby, I have watched her grow and learn new things. For all I know you are going to take her to a facility and cut her into pieces trying to figure out what she is." He tried his hardest to keep himself in check but Carmine felt terrified. "I don't know what they are but there are beings out there that want her, you have no idea who or what they are."

"We already know what she is, this stays in this room but Sari is not the only alien we know of on Earth currently. That being said our allies would not allow us to harm the child and believe me when I tell you that is not our intention. I did a little digging into Isaac Sumdac's will and while you are in control of his money, the business and handling his final arrangements, there is nothing about Sari being left to you," Charlotte explained. She riffled through the paperwork in her bag before producing a document for him to look at, letting Carmine know he couldn't fight back, not really. "The child is a ward of the state and therefore will be placed in a home until we can find someone to adopt her."

"I want to adopt her. She needs to stay here with me, I'm the closest thing to a family she has left," Carmine Fanzone pleaded, knowing it was pointless to try at this point.

"Sari needs out of this city, it isn't safe here for her anymore. Getting her out of here is our best bet, unless you plan on moving around with her I cannot approve of you adopting her," Charlotte Mearing countered crossing her arms.

"You act as if I'm going to give her up without a fight," Fanzone scoffed.

"It may take you some time to come to terms with this but we both want the same thing," Charlotte sighed. "Fighting is not going to change anything. Tomorrow Sari will be transported to another facility, where we'll observe her and then in a few weeks she will be introduced to her foster family."

"Can I take her home tonight?" Carmine questioned, thinking about running with her like Isaac was going to do.

"Yes, but I expect her to be packed up and ready to go first thing in the morning," Mearing answered. "The car is still outside, I will take you back to your house."

Captain Fanzone nodded before he stood and went to get Sari. They found her making a huge mess in the room, having found markers and crayons being tempted to color on the nice white walls. He opened his mouth to scold Sari but Charlotte put a hand up. Fanzone walked over to the child picking her up and carrying her out to the car.

Before Charlotte left she looked sternly at Fanzone through her glasses. "Don't run Carmine. We'll find you. I know this is hard, but for now I need you to trust me. Agent Fowler and I only want to keep Sari safe," Mearing spoke with genuine sincerity. Instead of waiting for a response she rolled up her window and left without another word.


	5. 5

Her Family is Gone

AB- Still don't own anything besides the plot.

5

Once they got her home Fanzone gave her something to drink and decided he should take her back to Sumdac tower to gather some of her things. He let Sari go to her room and put what she wanted in her backpack while Carmine searched Isaac's lab to find any files and records on Sari from her medical care to what she was like when he first found her. The journal Sumdac kept over the years sat on the desk as if it waited there for him to retrieve. After he grabbed all they needed out of there, Fanzone found Sari playing in her room since her bag seemed packed with a few belongings already. "I'm just going to grab you a few extra changes of clothes before we leave and when we get back to the house I have something important to tell you."

On the way back to his house Captain Fanzone took her to the burgerbot and grabbed Sari dinner and took it back with them. He enjoyed the simple happiness Sari showed while eating her meal and slurping her vanilla shake. This may very well be the last time he got the chance to see her like this, even if it wasn't she may hate him for letting this happen in the first place. How could he promise her safety when he didn't even know what the agents planned to do with her? As her Uncle there were very few things he would not do to keep her safe but Agent Fowler would never allow him to adopt her, not when he essentially seized control of her case.

"Sari, we have to have another talk," Carmine sighed and took her by the hand to sit her down on the couch, this time instead of sitting next to her, he knelt in front of her as if to indicate the space that would soon come between them. "Tomorrow morning Agent Mearing is coming to pick you up and after awhile they plan on placing you with a new family."

"Why? I'm happy here with you Uncle Car, I don't want to leave you," Sari pleaded sounding utterly shattered.

"I want you to stay here, it is not up to me though. Agent Fowler believes I can't keep you safe on my own and part of me believes him. Your Dad did his best everyday trying to keep you safe and I cannot do what he did, I'm not that good. Those bad people that hurt him are still out there and on my own I can't stop them. If this goes south, I promise I will find you and bring you back here," Carmine explained trying to answer Sari without telling her about the things she didn't know about herself. He hoped when Sari had to find out she was not human, he would not have to be the one to tell her. "The two of us might not be together but you are with me here." Fanzone placed a hand over his heart, a gesture which Sari mimicked with a slight smile on her face.

"Why did those people hurt Dad? He didn't do anything wrong! Now he is gone and they won't let me stay here with you," Sari shouted in frustration.

"People often do things without caring the harm it does to others. What they wanted from your father was something he could never give them, one day you will understand. You have to leave with them tomorrow, I can't change it but what I can do is fight to get you back." Fanzone stated not elaborating any further.

Sari brightened up at this, jumping up and hugging Fanzone tightly.

"Let's get your pajamas so we can get you cleaned up before bed." Sari nodded and ran off to get her clothes on her own."Maybe I'll put in a movie after your bath and we can watch it until it's bedtime."

The morning arrived faster than they would have hoped. Fanzone had woke up early in the morning next to Sari on the couch, he yawned before collecting her in his arms and laying her on his bed before grabbing a quilt and returning to the couch for the remainder of the morning.

Fanzone was barely able to get up to feed Sari breakfast before Charlotte Mearing and William Fowler showed up to take her away. Agent Mearing went to wake Sari while Agent Fowler sat down at the table with Captain Fanzone for a cup of coffee.

Mearing walked Sari into the kitchen, Carmine noticed his niece carried her backpack while Agent Mearing placed her duffle on the floor. Sari waited for her Uncle to stand up to jump into his arms and let him lift her up backpack and all. Carmine felt himself begin to cry but he held back, he would have time for that later after Sari was gone and the special agents had left him to mourn.

"Tell your Uncle goodbye," Mearing commanded in a gentle tone, "We have a ways to drive before we get to where we're staying."

"Where is that exactly?" Fanzone questioned meeting Agent Fowler's gaze, unconsciously holding the child tighter as if he could fight back.

"She is staying with me for the time being. We came separately so I am positive there are a few things you and William have to discuss," Mearing answered. The woman gave Fanzone a stern look so he slowly placed Sari on the ground.

"You have to go with Miss Mearing, she's going to take care of you. Be good for me and I promise I will see you as soon as I can." Carmine looked into Sari's brown eyes, nearly beginning to get emotional once more but he kept himself together. "Your Uncle Car loves you."

Sari nodded but he knew there was a silent I love you in her eyes. Agent Mearing took Sari by the hand and lead her out of the house only pausing to grab her keys out of her pocket.

Both men heard the car engine roar to life, pulling out of the driveway quickly and heading away from Detroit. Fanzone toyed with the journal which sat on his counter waiting to be handed over to Fowler and hopefully whoever the agent believe Sari belonged with.

Miko sat next to Jack on the couch annoyed at her host parents as per usual. At the tone of her voice Jack chuckled, "So what rule did you break this time Miko?"

"None this time! They are just taking in a foster child and when she arrives I can't do anything after school for the first week or two, meaning I can't come to the base at all," Miko groaned loudly.

What neither of the children noticed that Optimus Prime had walked into the room and overhead what Miko said. "From what I understand fostering is very important. Your host parents are bringing someone who needs love into their home and caring for them. This is crucial for many younglings," Optimus Prime stated kneeling to be closer to Miko's level. "Just give it a chance, you may be surprised by your new foster sibling."


	6. 6

Her Family is Gone

AB: I'm back, sorry this took longer than usual but I'm working on final papers and preparing for finals at the moment, so the next update may not be for a week or longer... Apologies. Hopefully this is enough to tide you over until I return. Peace and Love

6

It would be hard for Miko to admit but Optimus Prime was right about giving Sari Sumdac a chance. At first the girl seemed very reserved and well behaved but as Miko spent more time with her the teen saw that Sari reminded her a lot of herself. Since her host parents worked late sometimes Miko often picked up Sari from school with Jack so he could pretend to drive since she was too young to have her license and they couldn't risk Sari questioning where Miko's car went around her foster parents. Miko often played music in the background while they did homework, Sari rarely needed assistance and seemed advanced for a six year old reading instructions and understanding them without issue. Miko found out Sari liked a lot of the scary things that she did, zombies and ghosts didn't scare the six year old like it would many children her age. One thing she noticed was Sari did get startled a little by loud explosions or gunshots, which Miko didn't think was out of the ordinary. Over the few weeks Miko couldn't go to the base, the two became close like sisters in a lot of ways. The japanese girl only worried questioned one thing, where did Sari come from before her and what happened to her family? Her host parents would not tell her the limited information they received, explaining to Miko it was not important and bringing it up to Sari could bring back things the child wanted to forget so the teen let it go.

Miko only wished Sari could know about the bots, so they could share the biggest secret Miko had to keep. Sari kept a secret as well the fact she remembered everything, the only person she recounted her last day with her father to was Miss Mearing. The girl explained what she saw and what they did that day from packing up their clothing and attempting to skip town. She recalled the fear her father felt and the desperation in his every word even as he pushed her away, yelling at her to run. "Sari I want you to know, no matter what happens I love you. If we get separated you have to find Uncle Carmine, he'll know what to do. You are the most important thing in my life," she could hear still hear his voice, one of the last things he left his only child with. Then his fears came true, she was separated from him and Sari had no idea where her Uncle was. She only knew of the bad people and that they hurt her dad. Sari did not understand why any of it happened and she noticed Charlotte Mearing did not offer her any answers.

The bell rang at an Elementary School a girl with screaming red hair and brown skin got lost among the crowd of children running cheerily from the building. She looked around for whoever was supposed to pick her up but they weren't waiting outside for her, not knowing what to do the child started walking to the nearest crossguard. Behind her a dark red car and a big boxy blue car revved their engines. The girl kept walking quickly trying to get to an adult quickly but the car caught up to her first, the passenger side door opened and a voice spoke from the empty car, "Get in the car now." Sari shook her head too startled to do anything else. "Don't argue or I'll kill everyone you know."

The crossguard noticed Sari's reluctance and began her way toward the child. "Step away from the curb! Come over here," the woman yelled nearly running toward them an arm outstretched to grab the first grader, the other reaching for her phone to call the authorities if need be.

"Tell her you're okay and then get in," Knock-Out growled growing more impatient by the second. "I'm not joking, the family you have been staying with is the first target then the blonde policeman you left in Detroit. Do it, quickly."

"I'm okay," Sari stated her voice quiet and wavering trying to hide her fear. From the look in her eyes and the fear on her features everyone could see she was not fine. Unfortunately before the woman could grab her, Sari climbed in and the red car sped away. The crossguard considered chasing after them but knew there was no use, she dialled 911 noting the model of the vehicles since neither of them had recognizable license plates.

Even though Sari did not struggle the seat belt wrapped around her tightly to prevent her from moving much at all. "They really suck at hiding you from us. This was a good effort but bound to happen regardless, we are merely taking you home young one." After Sari moved a little Knock-Out zapped her, knocking her out at least until they delivered the precious cargo back to the Nemesis.

"So why is Mearing taking taking Sari back to her place?" Captain Fanzone questioned.

"She wants to observe her behavior and keep an eye on her until we can find her a home in another state," Agent Fowler answered. "Charlotte knows what we are dealing with, the child will be safe with us."

"I'm still not convinced that you are not taking her to some facility to cut her open and see what makes her tick," Fanzone accused.

"I already know what she is and if my allies found out I did something like that to a child, our relationship would be over and I would pay a hefty price. Harming a child or allowing harm to come to a child is something I am not alright with, no matter their origin," Agent Fowler stated.

"I have something you need then." Carmine Fanzone stood up and walked back to his bedroom to retrieve something. When the police captain returned, he slid a journal across the table to the federal agent. "That book is Isaac Sumdac's journal. He kept records of everyday with Sari, a lot of it is unimportant but he also kept her medical records and anything he knew about her in there. Tied to it is a USB drive, I got everything pertaining to Sari and put it on there. Isaac never opened her up but he knew what she required to function and how to fix her when she had any problem."

"Thank you Captain." William Fowler shook Carmine's hand. "I promise to keep you updated on Sari, I'll be in touch." With that William stood and walked out of Fanzone's house leaving him alone to think everything over.


	7. 7

Her Family is Gone

AB- I'm back and waiting for grades to post before summer classes begin hopefully you guys enjoy. Peace and Love

7

Miko knew she would be late to pick Sari up, the teen had ended up getting detention for multiple missing homework assignments. The teacher gave her detention so she could catch up and the educator would be there to help if necessary. "Can you have them call my host parents? I have to get my foster sister from school, she's six and most likely waiting outside the school scared cause no one went to grab her. They won't keep her in the school and I'm pretty sure neither of us want to risk something happening to her, " Miko pleaded hoping the teacher would listen to her for once.

"Don't make up stories Miss Nadaki. Finish your homework and then you are free to go," Mrs. Guile responded ignoring what her student said.

In an attempt to have Sari picked up Miko opened her phone to send Jack a message. "Give me your phone Miko!" Mrs. G shouted, holding out a hand for the pink device.

"Fine." Miko handed over the phone with a groan. She had to do everything as quickly as possible and hold onto the hope that Sari would wait by the school for her to get there.

When the teacher released her and handed Miko her phone back, the girl nearly ran out to where her guardian sat waiting for her. Miko climbed in quickly anxious to get to Sari's school. "We have to go Bulk. We're late to pick up Sari from school," Miko breathed heavily from her run through the high school.

"How are we going to explain this to her? You aren't old enough for a license and Jack has a shift at the KO Burger," Bulkhead responded.

"She's six, I'll make something up. My host parents will kill me if something happens to her," Miko muttered, "Sari probably thinks I forgot about her." Even though Miko tried to hide it Bulkhead knew she was upset.

Instead of telling her something she already knew Bulkhead sped forward heading out of the parking lot and in the direction of the closest elementary school in silence, neither wanted any music playing and both were silently worrying about the child they felt responsible for.

Miko had Bulkhead park in their usual spot and she quickly climbed out heading towards the front of the building expecting Sari to be sitting there waiting on the steps by the door. To her dismay Sari was nowhere to be seen, but as she looked around Miko noticed two police cars parked near a crossguard, who stood nearby crying as she talked to the officer. The world seemed to slow down as she stepped towards the officer to hear what the woman said to him.

"I don't know her name, she's new at the school and she usually gets a ride I think, but today no one came for her. She looked terrified when a couple of cars pulled up next to her, a man yelled something at her and slowly the child got in before I could reach her." The woman was nearly shaking.

"What did the girl look like?" Miko questioned from where she stood a few yards away. The crossguard described Sari perfectly from her red hair to brown skin, even the clothes she wore to school. "I know her, her name is Sari Sumdac and she's my foster sister. What did the car look like?" The woman stuttered out something about a red sports car and a big boxy navy blue car. Miko felt her heart stop before she realized she moved Bulkhead already had the passenger door open. "Knock-Out took Sari, we need to get to base and tell Prime."

Meanwhile three people were calling Agent Fowler at the same time. Agent Mearing, the Jasper Police department and Miko Nadaki, he chose to answer Charlotte Mearing first. "Agent Fowler," the man spoke clearly into the phone.

"Sari Sumdac has been taken." From what he could hear Mearing could barely keep herself together, apparently the woman had the child's file and name flagged in the system to notify her if it appears in any police reports. "The decepticons took her Fowler and we are partially to blame."

"Is that why everyone is calling me?" Agent Fowler asked even though he already knew the answer. "I will handle this Mearing, try and enjoy the rest of your vacation; I will keep you posted when I find anything out," William promised before calling the Autobot's base.

"Agent Fowler," Ratchet's voice came from the other end, "Miko called you and couldn't get through. We've got a situation."

"I'm aware. I need a ground-bridge," Fowler responded, before listing off his coordinates. He stood up and stepped through the portal when it opened knowing he would be walking into a trainwreck. When William came out on the other side he spoke before anyone else could, "I know about Sari Sumdac, more than anyone else besides her family. If the cons have her one thing is certain she is in a world of danger."

Knock-Out seemed pleased at Megatron's willingness to let him operate on the girl. She had only roused a little when he took her through a ground-bridge but it was only a little mumble before she was out again. The only thing he couldn't do was permanently offline her, keeping her spark beating and her processor functioning which is something Knock-Out had a hard time doing since taking someone apart was easier than putting them back together. Lord Megatron said nothing about his plan to cut her open and seeing what he could remove until she didn't function anymore. Knock-Out followed his usual protocol of tying his patients down to make sure they didn't try and get away, Sari had her small eyes open trying to see what the mech was doing. "We can do this one of two ways, you can be a good little sparkling and relax while I work or you can fight me and I'll make it hurt worse. I'm going to put you under, you'll feel everything but not as bad as if I left you awake. Does that sound good to you?"

Terrified. Sari lay completely immobile, unable to fight back even if she wanted to. It felt like her body weighed so much more than it did and she didn't have enough strength to lift it on her own. Then the pain started, it felt like the red giant burned her from the top of her head all the way down her body, then things went completely dark. Sari still felt things shifting and moving but it didn't seem like she was going to wake up again. She was frozen, her pulse seemingly stammering out of control but there was more than one both trying to keep pace with each other. The only thing Sari had any control over were her thoughts which seemed clouded by the extreme levels of emotion and pain she couldn't express. The last thing Sari held onto hope for was the safety of the people she knew, not even her own rescue. Even though everything melted away, her emotions and body acted wildly in response to whatever the creepy giant did to her. The only thing that remained the same was the terror, it never moved an inch.

"You brought another human into this?" Bulkhead nearly growled at William Fowler, "After the hell you gave us when our cover was blown saving Jack and Raf, you actually involved another child! Do you have any idea what you are doing? Sari is SIX and probably scared half to death as we speak."

"We do not have time to discuss this until we retrieve Sari and bring her back to base," Optimus Prime spoke over the commotion. The leader began touching the bases computer attempting to track the Nemesis so they could bridge onto the ship and rescue the child. "This conversation is far from over Agent Fowler, but our first priority is to get the girl back safely. Contact Arcee and June Darby, we may be in need of their assistance if things go wrong."

Ratchet nodded before opening a portal for Optimus to lead Bulkhead and Bumblebee through. Prime gave out the battle cry and they sped through the ground-bridge. On the huge ship the group split up, Bulkhead went with Bumblebee and Prime went alone until Arcee caught up with them. Locating where they had Sari and try to bust her out without drawing too much attention to themselves. Ratchet commed to let everyone know Arcee joined them on the Nemesis and shortly after she caught up with the leader. The pair of them stood outside a chamber where a loud commotion happened on the other side, Arcee nodded as she busted the panel to open the door and Optimus Prime peered into the room finding Knock-Out throwing a tool to the floor and looking for another. When he observed the operating table further the mech nearly growled in anger at what he saw, the body of a small child restrained to the table having been sliced open and stitched back together hastily. Knock-out hummed to himself until Optimus stepped into the room, motioning for Arcee to help Sari and get her out of there.

"Optimus Prime to what do I owe this pleasure?" Knock-Out smirked knowingly. Optimus kept his blaster pointed at the red decepticon, he had no intention of shooting but the gesture proved to keep Knock-Out in check. "Taking the girl will make no difference, she's as good as a vegetable at this point. I promise her spark won't stop but she'll never be the same again." Prime slammed him against the wall for that remark, the leader turned to Arcee who gingerly cradled Sari in her arms adjusting her to keep her blaster at the ready.

"She's alive," Arcee answered Prime's unasked question, "We need to find Bulkhead and Bumblebee. Things are way too quiet here." Something almost maternal crossed Arcee's features but it quickly faded into the anger, the cons were going to pay for this especially if something happened to the six year old.


	8. 8

Her Family is Gone

8

Once the others went through the ground-bridge, all eyes went to Agent Fowler. Miko sat next to Raf, who kept an arm around her in a comforting manner as the japanese teen cried. Ratchet decided to speak since no one else wanted to, "What were you thinking? Do you have any idea the danger you put the child in by having her close to us? You could get her killed!"

"Sari Sumdac has been on the cons radar since she opened her eyes. The reason she is here is because her father was gunned down by them over month ago. Megatron wants her because of what she is, Sari is not human at least not really," William Fowler answered. He paced back and forth trying to cope with the stress, running his hand through his greying hair. "I only just found out about her when Isaac died, she's my responsibility and I will take blame for what happens to her. Her Uncle is going to kill me, when he finds out."

"Why didn't you bring her to us directly? We could have protected her better," Ratchet accused.

"Sari doesn't know she's different. Her only remaining family told me that they never explained anything to her since she was too young and they had no idea what to tell her. They didn't have any answers for her," Fowler explained, "I have been looking over Isaac Sumdac's journal and from what I can tell Sari is Cybertronian but he obviously did not know that. Plus how do you think a traumatized six year old would react to being dropped off with a bunch of- to her- giant robotic strangers." Agent Fowler's phone chimed loudly Charlotte Mearing got the security footage from outside the Elementary school, the main reason he needed it was to prove what they knew to be true.

Ratchet pulled the video on the monitor he noticed Knock-Out parked outside the majority of the day waiting for Sari to leave the building. Breakdown joined him towards the end of the day when the other parents began to arrive for their children. They watched helplessly as Sari searched for Miko and slowly wandered away from the building, she almost blended into the crowd of students but Knock-Out tailed her until he could pull up next to her on the sidewalk. Sari stopped and when the door opened she hesitated a moment before getting in, the only thing trying to prevent it was a concerned crossguard that almost grabbed her since it was easy to tell that Sari was terrified. The Police showed up shortly after to talk to the crossguard, Miko arrived later and quickly approached the officer's.

"Why would she get in the car with someone she doesn't know? Didn't someone teach her not to trust strangers?" Miko questioned in shock, rubbing the tears from her face. She finally stood up and paced back and forth, Raf kept close to her knowing she was still dealing with all of this. "She climbed in, Knock-Out didn't touch her."

"He probably told her to. Sari wouldn't get into a strange car like that not after what she saw," Agent Fowler responded. He recalled conversations with Charlotte about the fear Sari felt and how concerned the child was about something awful happening again. "Knock-Out most likely threatened her or people she knows. The girl feels like her father dying is on her and wouldn't risk someone else. Also take into account she's six and a person screaming at them is scary whether or not it is a giant alien robot."

"What did she see?" Ratchet chimed in genuinely fearing the answer.

"Her father getting blown up to little more than a charred corpse or at least she knows it happened from being in the vicinity. Sari was there with him before he died. The footage shows him dragging her through the streets heading towards the local subway system, he was trying to disappear with her. Isaac had several bus tickets heading multiple locations in the United States. We assumed he was running in an attempt to lose the cons and protect Sari," William Fowler spoke grimly, "The only good news is she got out of there before things got too bad. Witnesses from the scene said they heard a man yell at a child in a yellow raincoat to run, no one found her until the next morning. Her father's friend had her at the time, don't worry. The start of the investigation marked the moment my involvement with Sari began." Agent Fowler's cell phone rang loudly and he answered it since it was his partner, "Fowler, here. I don't think it is a good idea Mearing, you've never been this involved with Team Prime before and I don't think now is the time for introductions. Fine, send me your coordinates and I'll bridge you here." The argument ended with Agent Fowler glancing at his phone and stepping towards the computer where Raf usually sat, punching in the numbers in the ground-bridge control bringing the portal to life. Slowly a blonde haired woman stepped out her hair pulled back into a tight ponytail, who looked to be in her late twenties but her face gave off nothing but maturity, sternness and professionalism. To everyone in there it seemed like the woman only saw Agent Fowler and she looked like she was ready to kill him.

Charlotte Mearing stepped up onto the platform and got into William's face. "I promise you if that child doesn't make it out of this alive, I will have your head for convincing me this was a good idea in the first place."

"Nice to see you too Mearing," William Fowler remarked.

"Don't you dare give me attitude at a time like this! That little girl is in trouble and you are part of the reason they grabbed her in the first place. I have spent weeks with her, I told you she could have lived with me but no you wanted to move her closer to Team Prime exactly where the Decepticons are," Mearing began shouting. She walked away from Agent Fowler to keep herself from punching him in the face. "Since I don't think my partner is going to introduce me, I'm Agent Charlotte Mearing."

"Ratchet," the medic responded, "Over there are Miko and Rafael."

As the conversation calmed down, June Darby arrived with Jack in toe. The nurse brought medical supplies with her just in case they needed them to keep Sari alive until they could transport her to the hospital if need be. Jack left his shift early for a "family emergency" hoping to be there for Miko. Surprisingly the girl remained silent as her two best friends kept an arm around her.

Optimus Prime commed for a ground-bridge, they retrieved Sari and needed to get out of there as quickly as possible. From the leader's grim tone Ratchet could tell the state they found Sari in was far from good. When he activated the ground-bridge Arcee came through first carrying the unconscious child in her arms, the distress visible on her faceplates. A collective gasp spread through the base at the sight of Sari, what the cons did to her was something no child should endure.

"She needs to get to the hospital," June Darby began immediately trying to take charge, "If she's stable we can take her now."

"No! She can't go to a hospital, they won't be able to help her," Charlotte Mearing stated firmly.

June opened her mouth to argue but Agent Fowler cut her off, "She isn't human. At least not fully, she is some descendent of a Cybertronian and Ratchet is the only one who can help her."

Miko, Jack and Raf were visibly distressed. Miko looked so broken at the seeing the damage done to her foster sister that Prime felt the need to intervene. While he could not change what happened to Sari, he could shield their young charges from seeing the horrors of the aftermath. "Agent Mearing and Bumblebee, take the children home. Nurse Darby, please assist Ratchet," Optimus commanded calmly after a collective nod everyone started moving. The leader knew Mearing would not allow any harm to come to the children, they had met in passing a few times and the young agent was a force to be reckoned with.

"I'm calling the local police to explain how this is now a federal case. Mearing take Miko home and assure her host parents that we found Sari. She's in a hospital and cannot see anyone until she wakes up to be questioned," William Fowler added before starting the phone call with the local precinct.

June and Ratchet were trying their best to stabilize Sari but nothing seemed to work. "I don't know if we can do this Ratchet. Maybe if you-"

"I'm not reopening her up! I don't think her systems or body can take it," Ratchet explained.

"I don't think we have a choice. Sari is going to die if you don't, we are the only shot she's got. Whatever that psychopath did to her can only be fixed from the inside," June argued, "Trying is better than just letting her fade away."

Ratchet nodded, reluctantly reopened Knock-Out's messy stitching revealing all of the mech's handiwork. All of Sari's smaller than normal human organs were intact but a lot of her cybernetic parts were moved around in some cases missing. Without replacing her parts there would be no saving her, the medic wondered whether she could survive even if they replaced everything. While Ratchet assessed what he had to do, June hooked Sari up to a monitor to track all of her vitals. Surprisingly her heart and spark beat steadily even though it seemed impossible, her processor was so active both the medic and nurse knew the child still panicked being unable to control her terror. "Her vitals are good, all things considering but it won't last if we can't fix this. I believe I can patch her temporarily but if we can't get her parts back, we'll lose her at least physically. Sari will be little more than a terrified protoform." Ratchet shook his helm. "Hearing us isn't helping her, I want to turn off her audio receptors but first we need to calm her down. I believe you're better suited to this task than I am." The medic stepped back, being unable to look upon the injured girl while Nurse Darby tried to put the girl's fears at ease.

June understood what he asked her to do and took a seat next to Sari taking the child's hand in her own. "You're safe. I know you are scared Sari but you are with the good guys now. We are going to make you feel better, I promise. Those bad people aren't going to touch you again." June moved the hair away from her forehead in a comforting gesture, planting a kiss on her forehead. She shushed the girl in a motherly manner once she let go of Sari's hand she nodded for Ratchet to deactivate her audio receptors. They hoped it would calm the child, but both understood Sari would most likely not calm until she was sedated properly.


	9. 9

Her Family is Gone

AB- I know it has been awhile, I've been working and trying to keep writing ahead to keep the updates fairly frequent. Don't worry this is far from the end of what I have done, just please stick with me as we keep going on this wild ride which I have big plans for. I know I've said it before but I do not own TFA/TFP or any of the Bayverse characters that show up, they belong to their rightful owners.

Peace and Love to all.

9

"You look really young to be federal agent," Jack commented and Agent Mearing shot him a look. It was clear Charlotte did not think the comment was appropriate for the time being, she had to practice what she was going to tell Sari's foster parents and make sure Miko kept it together. If the teen alluded to something strange going on it may lead to more questions than either of the special agents are able to answer.

"I'm twenty-six and was the top of my class. None of that is important now, Sari is our main concern for the time being," Charlotte stated keeping her eyes on what Bumblebee did while he drove.

"How did you end up working with Fowler? Why are the cons after Sari anyways? Shouldn't " Miko questioned.

"I don't question my assignments. Why don't we sit quietly until everyone is dropped of at home," Mearing snapped in annoyance.

They did sit in silence until after Raf and Jack were returned to their houses. Charlotte giving Raf's parents an explanation to why he was late coming home. Only after the boys were gone did Miko speak, "What's going to happen to Sari? Do you know if she will be okay?"

"I wish I knew Miko. My job at the moment is to explain the basics to your host parents. Obviously omitting the part about giant alien robots, they need to know we underestimated the people after Sari. Until she pulls through Sari is back being a ward of the state and you cannot tell them you saw her at all," Charlotte explained.

"Do you think she's going to make it?" Miko pleaded needing the answer.

"I don't know Miko. Even if she does, no one will know how long or even if she can recover from this," Mearing responded grimly, "Hopefully Ratchet and Nurse Darby can help her."

Agent Mearing walked Miko to her door and knocked loudly, her host mother quickly grabbed the girl and hugged her tightly. Her training with frantic parents was shaky at best and the woman rarely came off as friendly. "I found this one out searching for Sari. Just thought bringing her home was the right thing to do. If Agent Fowler has not been in touch with you, he will be to give you more details as things change and develop. They found Sari but her condition is unstable at the moment and the doctors are doing everything they can. When she wakes up Sari will be moved again, hopefully someplace where the people after her won't find her."

After Mearing finished her conversation with the foster parents she quickly went back to Bumblebee knowing they needed to hurry back.

The rest of the team stood outside the med-bay in silence even Agent Fowler had no words to describe how he felt. Ratchet stepped out looking beside himself. "Optimus," the medic began looking down at the floor, "I don't know if she's going to survive."

"Are you sure?" Prime inquired. "Can you do anything else for her?"

Ratchet shook his head. "Without what Knock-Out removed from her I can only keep her stable for so long. Sari isn't going to die but soon her body will lose functionality as her processor stops everything other than vital functions. She'll be alive in mind but not in body, remaining as a lifeless shell that used to be a lively little girl."

"So we have to break back onto the Nemesis?" Arcee questioned sounding prepared to head straight into battle.

"This time Bulkhead and I will create a distraction so you can get what we need from Knock-Out. Bumblebee will join us when he returns with Agent Mearing," Optimus stated.

"Roughing some cons up doesn't sound too bad to me at this point," Bulkhead added.

"I fear Megatron was letting us off easy the first time, now that we have to return, he is probably waiting for us," Prime responded.

They found the warship again and bridged on easily but Megatron had a welcoming party waiting for them this time. Optimus and Bulkhead began fighting while Arcee slipped through the fray heading towards the med-bay. She kept in touch with Ratchet, who relayed the important parts to Prime. Arcee found the med-bay door open and Knock-Out inside clearing one of his benches. The femme held her blaster at the ready, when she stepped in and immediately got struck from behind and collapsing to the ground with a groan.

"We've got Arcee," Knock-Out told Megatron. Breakdown held the unconscious Autobot up before slamming her onto the metal table. The femme let out a loud groan but remained knocked out.

"Optimus I have lost contact with Arcee, I think it is a trap," Ratchet stated over the com-link, hoping to warn the leader before it became too late.

"Bulkhead, go and assist Arcee, I will handle things here," Optimus Prime commanded. Another wave of vehicons came at the leader, Starscream flew past the fighting and Megatron came in causing his men to part so he could get through to face his brother.

"You're a bigger fool than I thought you were. Rescuing the child is one thing Optimus but coming back to steal from my medical supplies is wrong," Megatron mused coming to face Prime head on. The warlord smiled like he knew the extent of the permanent damage Knock-Out did to Sari.

"She wouldn't need medical attention if Knock-Out would not have sliced her open and removed parts the youngling needs to function. I would rather risk stealing from you than sit back and allow a child to perish," Prime argued before slamming the side of Megatron's helm with his fist. Instead of arguing further the two continued to fight, not holding back at all.

"All of this over a single sparkling?" Megatron chuckled. He stopped his grunts from advancing on Prime to pin the leader down himself. "Impulsive and brash is not your usual, maybe if you thought this through your team wouldn't be in danger now."

"If I fail at least I am certain I did everything I could to fix Sari Sumdac," Optimus Prime responded fighting back fiercer than he was before.

"You're attached to her and you've never even spoke to her; although it's sweet, your feelings only make the target on her head larger." Megatron smirked. The warlord backed off and allowed Optimus to walk away from them. "Stand down, allow Prime and his men get what they want. We'll have our revenge in time."

What surprised Prime was Megatron meant what he said about his crew standing down. The vehicons got out of his way and by the time Optimus made it to the med-bay Bulkhead waited for him with Arcee and the parts Ratchet needed from the lab. They got out of there and Ratchet started to work on repairing Sari immediately with June on standby monitoring the child's vital signs.

By the time Ratchet and June finished the only bot left standing was Optimus Prime who wanted to make sure Sari remained stable. June went home to make sure Jack made it back from the base alright, while Ratchet cleaned up and began explaining her condition to the leader. "Will she wake up soon?" Optimus questioned quietly in fear that Sari could hear their conversation.

Ratchet shook his helm. "I'm afraid not, physically she'll recover with time but waking her isn't an option until her condition improves greatly. Her mind is very active so I'm not too worried about her processor being damaged, her audio receptors are off at the moment but I'll turn them on so she can get used to the sounds of the base. If you'd like to stay with her you can Optimus, come and get me if her vitals drop suddenly."

When Ratchet returned to the med-bay in the morning, Prime still sat there across from Sari, who had not so much as moved from her spot on the berth. The medic could have swore he heard the Prime was talking to the girl quietly. "Go and get some recharge, you look exhausted." Optimus looked up at the medic and shook his helm solemnly. "Doctor's orders," Ratchet responded firmly but when the leader opened his mouth to argue he added, "I promise if anything changes I will come get you." Ratchet couldn't help but wonder what the bond Optimus was forming towards Sari would lead to in the future.


	10. 10

Her Family is Gone

AB- Sorry this took way longer than I thought it would... I started my summer class and I have been working a full-time schedule on top of it so things have been a bit crazy. Well without further ado, peace and love.

10

Weeks passed and Sari's condition had not improved much but she seemed to be getting stronger. The incision on her body healed slowly and it would slowly fade away to a scar that split her body in two. Team Prime took turns sitting and talking to the girl and Optimus took up residence in the med-bay refusing to be away from Sari anymore than he had to. Even Miko, Agent Mearing and William Fowler took turns sitting next to her berth and talking to her, hoping the attention would force her to come back to them.

Agent Fowler returned early in the morning one day to visit Sari, Optimus Prime was shocked to see a man following behind him. He walked passed Prime as if he didn't notice him and went up to where Sari lay on the bed. The blonde haired man shook with anger as he took the young girl's hand in his and squeezed it gently. He leant over her slowly before kissing her forehead, a few tears running down Fanzone's cheeks.

"Prime, this is Captain Carmine Fanzone, Sari's Uncle," William Fowler stated, "I've kept him away for as long as I could but I think I will do her good to hear his voice."

"I agree," Optimus Prime stated, stepping back to give Agent Fowler and Captain Fanzone some space. The police officer nuzzled the child and talked to her soothingly before the girl began to make a fuss. This was something that happened from time to time usually in the early hours of the morning or late at night, but Prime found a way to calm her down. "Allow me." The mech reached over and scooped Sari up gently in his servo bringing the child to his spark and holding her there being mindful of the IV attached to her arm. After a few minutes of listening to the steady beat of his spark, Sari calmed and the leader gently placed her back on her bed. "I'm still here with you youngling, you are safe," Prime spoke soothingly before slowly replacing her on the berth.

"How did you know that would work?" Carmine asked looking up at the mech for the first time.

"Prime has been with Sari since they brought her to the base. He's barely left her side and won't until she's awake and recovering," Agent Fowler answered for Prime.

"I have done it before, as Agent William Fowler said I will be here until Sari makes a full recovery," Optimus added.

"Why do you even care? I'm assuming you are one of the good ones, but all you guys have ever done for Sari is make things worse," Carmine shouted, "My best friend died because of them and you think I trust you to take care of his child."

"I care for Sari in a way I cannot fully explain, although I have not spoke to her I know that I would never allow any harm to come to her. At the moment, Ratchet is the only one that can take care of her and make sure she is fully functional when she opens her optics," Optimus stated trying to get through to Fanzone.

"If she wakes up," Fanzone's voice cracked when he spoke, "I can't lose her too."

"She will come back, Sari is very strong. While I did not know Isaac Sumdac, I am sorry for your loss," Optimus Prime said solemnly.

After that things remained silent, everyone was content to sit around Sari and simply watch over the child as if she would open her eyes any moment. It would make it easier on all of them if she did, especially Agent Fowler whose conscience weighed down heavily since it was in part his fault. Captain Fanzone stayed in the area for about a week to help look after Sari and reluctantly left her in the care of the Autobots, but especially the watchful optics of Optimus Prime. The two had a silent understanding, Captain Fanzone would be alright with this situation only because he could see the care Optimus held for his niece.

The leader's spark lifted at the mere thought of Sari waking, he knew the recovery would be long and tedious. Prime felt a bond with Sari, a protectiveness and unexplained love in his spark. He knew that he would do anything he could if it meant she was safe and healthy.

After Captain Fanzone left Miko came in to sit with Sari and chat with her "baby sister". It was obvious to Bulkhead and Optimus Prime the level of guilt the girl felt over not being there to save her. She knew her and Bulk could've intercepted Knock-Out but nothing could change it now. "You've been sleeping for a long time Sari, Ratchet told me at first it was because you needed to heal but now he thinks you're just being stubborn. I bet you could open your eyes and look at me if you tried," Miko spoke bluntly, squeezing Sari's hand. Miko laid her head down on the berth when Sari squeezed her hand back, startling Miko back into an upright position. Sari's optics were open shining a dull blue, looking at her foster sister in shock. The child's expression held shock and fear, instead of yelling for Ratchet the teen decided to calm Sari down a bit first. "You're okay. You are safe here, some of my friends saved you and fixed you up. I'm going to get the medic, okay? I promise he's not going to hurt you," Miko explained and Sari looked like she understood.

Ratchet had sent everyone out on patrol, the constant fretting over the youngling was grating on the medic and he understood they would be looked at with fear when she finally opened her optics. Optimus Prime was meeting with Agent Fowler and his higher-ups about having Sari put into the team's custody since her recovery would be a long one and the team was the only chance she had of being safe from the ever looming threat of the decepticons coming to take her again. Ratchet thought back to the numerous nights the leader kept watch over Sari, as if the darkness posed just as much threat to her as Megatron did.

Miko ran up to Ratchet interrupting the mech's thoughts with her urgency. "Ratchet, she's awake," Miko exclaimed looking up at the medic.

"Very funny Miko, it was not funny the last time you tried this and I know you are worried about Sari but pretending like she woke up is not going to make her wake up," Ratchet dismissed.

"I'm not joking, she's awake," Miko argued. The girl went back to the med-bay to check on Sari. "Come look at her please."

Ratchet followed the human girl reluctantly, what he found was Miko reassuring Sari of her safety as the medic came into view. The younglings optics widened and she flinched away from Ratchet moving as much as the inactivity would allow. He stared at her in utter shock the last thing he expected to happen was for their youngling to wake up while everyone besides Miko was gone. Since this is not what the medic had expected he had not realized how close he was to the girls and to him it felt as if he was looming over them. "Ratchet you're scaring her. It's okay Sari, he's not going to hurt you. I won't let that happen again," Miko promised.

Ratchet shook his helm before stepping back and trying his best to calm her. "I apologize. Miko is right, I have no intention of hurting you. I do need to run some scans and make sure everything is alright," Ratchet allowed a certain level of sincerity mask his usual sarcasm. Sari still looked at him in shock, it was as if she finally saw he was not the monster that harmed her before. The realization was small, but Ratchet would take anything to get her to see he was not dangerous to her. Miko stepped back and Ratchet came closer. "I'm a doctor, I know it's hard to believe but you're not in any danger. You'll see a light, it's just me scanning your systems. I won't do anything else without telling you first." The medic did as he said and Sari never took her optics off the red and white mech. "Everything looks alright, you've improved from when you came here. It'll take some time for you to get back to normal but the fact you are conscious and responsive is a step in the right direction. Do you think you could try speaking for me?"

Sari glanced at Miko, who nodded in encouragement. "It hurt," Sari managed to communicate but what came out to Miko were a series of bleeps and clicks. Both Ratchet and Miko stared at the child in shock, the medic because he did not believe she would be able to speak at all for the time being and Miko was confused at what Sari said since she couldn't understand.


	11. 11

Her Family is Gone

AB- I'm back, honestly sorry these updates are not as frequent as I would like but that is neither here nor there. Hopefully I'll get another chapter out in the next week or so. Peace and Love.

11

"Your vocals are damaged," Ratchet observed out loud. The medic wished he could scratch Knock-Out's paint in retaliation. He experienced the struggle Bumblebee had over losing his vocal processor and getting used to being "voiceless" remembering how it caused the mech problems even to this day. The medic wouldn't wish it on most, aside from Megatron or Knock-Out. He knew it could hinder Sari's recovery since talking with most humans like she normally would is not possible at least without a translation from one of them.

"Freaky. She sounds just like Bumblebee," Miko spoke without thinking.

"Where's my Uncle? Is he okay?" Sari questioned seeming panicked or at least worried.

"Not here, but I can call him if you want to speak with him," Ratchet responded keeping his voice even as he dialed Captain Fanzone over the bases communication link so both he and Miko could hear everything.

"Fanzone here." Sari visibly perked up at the sound of her Uncle's voice but waited for Ratchet to explain things.

"Carmine, it's Ratchet," the medic greeted.

"Is Sari alright? Has something happened?" Captain Fanzone began to sound panicked, continuing to ramble on without reason.

"Don't worry Uncle Car," Sari's beeps and clicks must have carried to the man on the other end because he stopped talking.

"She's awake. Don't tell me not to worry Sari, you nearly gave Uncle Car a heart attack. Please, don't do that again," Carmine spoke only half joking at the end of his statement.

"I'm sorry."

"I know, you've been Sari since the day your Daddy called me for help," Carmine chuckled.

"You can understand her?" Ratchet questioned.

"Of course, when she was younger it's how she talked. Isaac found a way to understand her before I caught onto it but I learned," Carmine explained.

"That is surprisingly good news, maybe her vocals can heal over time," Ratchet mused.

"Where's Optimus Prime?" Fanzone inquired, wondering why the mech who stayed by his niece's side remained silent through their short conversation.

"He's not here, Optimus was going to meet with Agent Fowler and Charlotte Mearing." Ratchet wanted to explain further but did not the subject of the meeting to add extra strain on Sari. He moved Captain Fanzone to his personal comm-link and walked out of the girls' earshot. "Prime is meeting with government officials about who should have custody of Sari. They believe Agent Fowler should let her be taken care of by another division since his involvement keeps her closer to the Decepticons. Unfortunately involving Optimus only makes this more complicated, they don't fully understand what Sari is and Fowler wanted to keep it that way but it seems to be out of the question now. Prime plans on asking for custody to be given to Team Prime, since she is a descendant of one of our own and seems to be more cybertronian than human."

"His plan is to reveal her origins?" Carmine Fanzone seemed shocked at this realization.

"Yes," Ratchet answered.

Fanzone had to go since he was on the clock and had a call coming in. Ratchet decided it was getting late so he decided it was time to take Miko home. He stepped back into the med-bay where Miko remained sitting next to Sari chattering about school and the things her and Bulkhead did when they hung out. The red-haired girl seemed at ease being there with Miko and it warmed Ratchet's spark to see the child relaxed and calm but he also saw the wary glance the girl gave him every so often. "Unfortunately it's getting late and Miko has to go home." Two sets of eyes looked up at him and Miko stepped forward.

"Alright Doc-bot, but what about Sari?"

"She is coming with us since I don't feel right about leaving her alone in the base." He looked at Sari before addressing her directly, "I'm going to pick you up now, I promise I won't hurt you. There just is not a better way to do this." Ratchet moved slowly but did not hesitate when scooping up the small girl, he transformed around her hopefully not jostling her too much, making sure she was laid back slightly in the passenger seat before opening the door for Miko. "Sit in the driver's seat but don't touch anything." Silently Miko hopped up and fastened herself into the seat behind the wheel of the ambulance. The japanese teen reached over and took Sari's hand in hopes of calming the girls nerves.

"You're alright Sari," Miko muttered quietly. Ratchet turned on the heat of his alt mode, before slowly rumbling out of the base. "Nothing bad is going to happen to you."

"He's scary," Sari responded to Miko, not realizing she said it and that Miko could not understand her.

Miko looked at Sari in confusion and Ratchet responded directly to the girl, "I understand why you are afraid of me. I don't blame you, since you were shown the horrors of what our race can do instead of the kindness. Just understand this youngling, not all of us are like that twisted Decepticon Knock-Out."

The rest of the ride went by in silence, Miko watched as Sari was lulled to sleep within Ratchet's alt-mode. When they arrived at her host parent's house Miko got out in silence, only speaking when she began to walk away for fear of waking her friend, "Take care of her Ratchet."

Ratchet revved his engine quietly in response, backing up and beginning the drive back to the base. The medic decided to comm Optimus to let him know their new charge had woke up for a while and seemed mentally aware of what was going on around her. "Optimus," he spoke quietly knowing the leader would hear him just fine.

"Ratchet, is something wrong? Unfortunately this meeting is taking longer than anticipated," Optimus Prime responded genuine worry and concern in his voice.

"Sari woke up and is for the most part functional. She's terrified of me, which makes things difficult but I'm trying my best to be patient with her," Ratchet answered.

"I'll be back there soon," Prime added, "Can she hear me?"

"No, she is currently in recharge again. I believe waking up and dealing with me has tired her out, along with the fact she still needs to recover from the entire ordeal," Ratchet stated.

Optimus Prime did not have anything else to say, most of what the leader wanted to say were things Ratchet would already do; keep the child safe and make sure her condition was stable. With that taken care off Prime turned back towards the government officials, who were still deliberating with Agent Fowler and Charlotte Mearing.

"We do not believe a six year old child should be under the primary care of a bunch of giant alien robots!" The man who screamed at William Fowler looked up at Optimus and realized his obvious prejudice, "No offense. On top of the fact the girl in question is in danger because of the other faction of giant alien robots, you believe Sari Sumdac is better off staying in their care when they are fighting in the middle of fighting a war."

"Yes, since Sari Sumdac is not human. What part of that don't you people get? Professor Isaac Sumdac found her, if you need proof I can give you the sections of the file taken from the man's computer. In order to cover up her origins, Isaac had fake documents drawn up and Sari was put into the system as any normal person would be," Agent Fowler stated for what felt like the hundredth time.

"If I'm not mistaken, it would be the next of kin that would take control of where Sari goes. Although Captain Fanzone was not made guardian of Sari in Isaac's will, he is the sole beneficiary and could contest her being taken from our care," Optimus Prime tried to keep his voice even, knowing Sari was not leaving his care, they would have to offline him first.

"I don't know what your game is, you want to play father since you haven't got one of your own? You all want to keep an orphan from a normal life after aliens murdered her father?" The official accused the Autobot leader.

Optimus Prime held back his emotions and let Charlotte Mearing respond to the man's absurd question, "Even if Optimus wanted to play a fatherly role in Sari's life there is NOTHING wrong with that. The mech has remained at the child's side as much as he could, under other circumstances it would be far more heartwarming but I believe Prime and his team are what Sari needs. None of us are as equipped to defend her from the enemy than they are. None of us want to drag Captain Fanzone into this but we will if we have to, we will do anything we have to do." Mearing glared directly at the man, who kept making the same argument repeatedly.

"Are you threatening me?"

"Take it whatever way you want Attenger," Charlotte stated before turning away and leaving the conversation.

"We all want what's best for the child and I know she is my partner but I wholeheartedly agree with her. If you can't see reason maybe this conversation would be better with Carmine Fanzone present," Agent Fowler added, "Come on Prime, we're done here." He waved the leader on chasing after Mearing. "What did Ratchet say, good news I hope?"

"Sari was awake and spoke with Miko and Ratchet," Optimus waited until they were out of earshot to answer William. He transformed and let both of the Agents into his cab before asking Ratchet to bridge them back to base.

When the three of them stepped into the med-bay Ratchet looked over a sleeping Sari. "I know you all want to see her but Sari is not to be disturbed, the child is still very weak and in recovery. Maybe I'll allow her visitors in the morning, no one is staying with her besides Optimus or myself." So with that the two Agents left without argument knowing the medic would not budge on the issue and they both understood Sari needed to rest. "I'm guessing your discussion with the Fowler's superiors did not go well?"

Optimus shook his helm. "It went worse than I expected. To them we are little more than alien machines, monsters fighting a war on their planet and utterly incapable of looking after a youngling. I fear none of us will be able to prevent the government from attempting to seize Sari away from us and I will not allow it to happen." Instead of saying anything to comfort the leader Ratchet patted him on the back gently, stepping out of the med-bay and flipping off the lights for the night leaving Optimus to sit guard over Sari again.

In her dreams Sari was back in front of the school, but instead of walking out of the building she hid in the bathroom hoping to avoid the fate she'd already endured. When everything seemed quiet Sari crept out of the bathroom and went to the door looking outside only to view the two cars waiting outside. Instead of running deeper into the school, she sped out of the doors and hoped to make it around the building and find Miko. Her plan was quickly snuffed out when the huge blue car blocked her path and the giant red being grabbed her up roughly in his fist. Sari screamed in terror, thrashing wildly before a warmth seemed to fill her and Knock-Out faded away as Sari began to wake up.

The safety she felt began to fade as Sari became aware of the fact something was holding her. "Before you open your optics, understand this although I may scare you at first I will not harm you." The deep voice was loud, but Sari recognized it from when she was lost in a haze, recovering from her abduction.

What she saw shocked her, the voice belonged to a different alien. He held her away from his body so Sari could get a better look at him. Even though Ratchet elicited fear from her, Sari knew she did not have to be afraid of him. Part of her remembered his voice telling her about his home and things he found beautiful about Earth, while she had been unconscious and essentially lost to the world. Sari wanted to scream, since it felt like the correct reaction but instead what came out of her mouth was a loud yawn. "I know you want to ask questions and I promise to answer as many as I can, but for the moment you need to recharge. The only way to recover is to rest. Would you like me to tell you a story about a friend of mine?" Sari nodded almost instantly. Optimus Prime placed Sari back onto the berth before beginning, "I'll tell you about the day I met my old friend Ratchet…" Prime went into the details of how he came to know his medic and only stopped speaking once he was certain the girl would not awaken again. The mech then sat and watched over her, keeping his sensors on alert even when he allowed himself to recharge.


	12. 12

Her Family is Gone

AB; I'm back with an update, finally. Sorry college has been rough and balancing work with school and everything else is a challenge. So I have two "announcements"... One I will probably edit this story while I'm unable to update to improve on the quality. Two depending on where this story goes, I have been plotting a sequel so don't give up hope on me yet. I do not own Transformers, but you already knew that. Peace and Love.

Edit; I forgot that using word really messes with fanfic's formatting. Sorry. Hopefully I've fixed the issue...

12

Ratchet's entrance into the med-bay is what brought both Sari and Prime out of recharge; the medic's presence did not startle her as much as it had the day before, especially with the blue and red mech there to see everything. "I didn't mean to wake either of you, I know both of you could use the extra sleep after everything," Ratchet spoke with concern in his tone. He continued to walk past the leader and pulled up Sari's vitals on the monitor. "It seems you are recovering well. I'm sure Charlotte Mearing and William Fowler will be here soon to see you, if you'd like to see them."

"Good morning Sari." The red and blue alien sounded happy to see her or maybe she was imagining things. "Did you recharge well?"

Sari didn't know how to answer, she felt exhausted and even though she understood she was safe part of her was still terrified. She also remembered her voice was weird since Miko mentioned it yesterday and had no idea whether or not the red and blue robot would understand her. Even though the noises came from her felt familiar, it still reminded Sari of what had happened. Her reluctance to speak annoyed the medic so he tried to encourage her gently, "Don't be rude Sari. He'll understand you just fine. Your voice is completely normal."

She ignored the question and asked one of her own, "What's your name?" Sari had no idea why it seemed important to know. She cared about the seemingly kind mech and referring to him by the colors of his plating felt wrong to her. She nearly jumped out of her skin at the weird amalgamation of beeps that came from her, not understanding what was wrong with her. It did not hurt her physically, but another part of her ached.

"Optimus Prime," he answered plainly, a smile graced his features. Ratchet stepped in holding out a small cup of water in hopes Sari would be able to drink small sips of the liquid since he planned on removing her IV to begin getting her mobile again. The medic considered handing it to the child but then thought against it, Sari had not really moved on her own and pushing her to do so may cause more harm than good.

Without much warning the medic adjusted the berth Sari lay on slowly so that the child was sitting up so she wouldn't choke on the water. Surprisingly Sari did not scream at the sudden movement merely yelped quietly at the medics actions. The first small sip of water went alright, but when she took a second Sari swallowed wrong, coughing and spraying the water out of her mouth and soaking the medical gown she wore.

"Easy young one. We might have to leave your IV in longer than I originally believed. Optimus, would you mind helping her stretch a little while I call Charlotte Mearing to have her come help us get Sari bathed and changed, since she probably appreciate being in her own clothes instead of that gown Nurse Darby swiped from the hospital. I'm going to leave you to it; Prime knows what he's doing." Ratchet true to his word left the two of them alone once more, the leader smiling down at Sari before reaching toward her slowly.

Sari felt like her heart would stop any second there, but when she visibly flinched, Prime froze and spoke to her telling her exactly what he was doing before he did it. Sari reasoned it was the motion and the prospect of his huge hands threatening to crush her as the other one had before. Optimus was surprisingly gentle with her, his huge hands holding her limbs without much pressure. It felt weird to have her body moved, but Sari felt too heavy to do it on her own just yet. His actions made her question the fear she felt, it was involuntary after everything she had been through and a giant alien robot was still fairly intimidating.

"There you go youngling. Ratchet tells me you are stable, soon you'll be running around like nothing happened," Optimus hummed.

"What about my voice?" Sari questioned, her voice seemed to glitch as she spoke being affected by her emotions.

"I do not know sparkling; from the journal your father kept has helped Ratchet understand a few things. You've talked like this before when you were younger and grew out of it as you got older, all of us are hoping it will happen again since you're still young," Optimus told her the truth, not wanting to lie to her any more than he had to.

Sari nodded, not knowing what to say. She did not fully understand what was happening; only what they would tell her. "Am I going home?" Sari inquired already knowing the answer.

"For the time being this is your home while you recover," Prime answered solemnly. He sat down so he did not loom over the child. "I know this is scary for you, but I want you to understand that as long as I function no one will harm you again."

"I'm not afraid of you Optimus," Sari stated without a second thought.

The leader nodded, contemplating everything he felt and what it might come to if the government insisted on removing Sari from their custody. He decided to speak with William Fowler when he and Agent Mearing arrived to visit with Sari. While the Prime thought to himself, Sari went back to sleep and Ratchet reentered the med-bay to do a full scan of Sari since the child was recharging soundly. "She needs to rest. I don't pretend to understand the bond, you and Sari have but I think she needs it just as much as you do. What are we going to do if they come for her?"

"Unless Captain Fanzone wants her away from us, I will not allow her to be removed from our care. Something is wrong with the way Attinger feels about us and his intentions seem to be malicious," Prime stated relaying his impression of the official he argued with yesterday.

"You think he may be a threat to Sari?" Ratchet asked in disbelief.

"I believe he wishes to understand the child in the same way Knock-Out did, by taking her apart to see what she is and how she functions." Both mech shared a grim look, a silent understanding passed between them that neither would allow it to happen, not if they could prevent it.

Charlotte and William showed up shortly after Sari woke up from her nap, the child hugged Charlotte back as best as she could and the special agent frowned slightly feeling and seeing the weakness in her former ward. "You scared me, I wasn't sure if the team got you out of there in time."

"I'm alright," Sari stated trying to keep it together, hoping the meaning of her words carried more than how it sounded to her ears.

Mearing did not believe it for one second but decided against bringing it up; instead she lifted the child into her arms and took her from the room to where Ratchet set up a tub of warm water to bathe Sari. Charlotte used a rag to wipe the girl down as she sat in the small amount of water Ratchet provided. Sari seemed content with the help given, enjoying her long red hair being washed since it had been neglected while she lay unconscious. Once she got the child's hair rinsed, Charlotte helped her dry off, dry and comb her hair and then help Sari into one of her outfits Capitan Fanzone gave them for her. Sari smiled widely, even as she was carried back to her berth in the med-bay.

Agent Fowler looked between Ratchet and Optimus Prime knowing what he had to say was going to upset both of them. Attinger was fighting to get Sari away from the team; the man was slowly convincing the officials around him that the half alien child was unsafe where the other aliens were. Agent Mearing was helping get Sari cleaned up and hoping to keep her out of this discussion for the time being. "Prime, I've got bad news," William began rubbing the back of his neck, trying to soothe his own nerves. Optimus merely looked at the man, asking him to continue without words a serious expression on his metal face. "They want Sari and unless we can find a way to keep her here legally, the government is coming here to get her. Attinger has so many on his side at this point and they accuse me of being a blinded by my work with the team, as if seeing you as people prevents me from judging whether or not Sari is safe."

"Sari is not going anywhere," Ratchet spoke surprising Agent Fowler and Optimus Prime. Without another word the medic opened the ground-bridge and Carmine stepped in a serious expression on his face. No one heard the medic's low conversation, while Optimus and Agent Fowler went back and forth. So when the ground-bridge activated and someone came through they were surprised to see Fanzone.

"Where's the fire?" Carmine questioned with a slight smirk as if he already knew the situation at hand.

"They want to remove Sari from our care," Optimus spoke calmly but it was merely a charade, everyone knew how the prime felt about Sari, whether or not Prime fully understood it.

"I've put a lot of thought into this and I thought this might help your case." Captain Fanzone handed papers to Fowler knowing what they'd mean for the man.

"Isaac Sumdac's will? Sari was not put into the care of anyone," William questioned.

"Unofficially she is my ward and since I'm his power of attorney and sole beneficiary of his estate, I have paperwork placing Sari Sumdac into the care of Team Prime specifically Optimus Prime," Carmine stated, revealing both a document Isaac left giving Carmine control over Sari's fate and legal papers passing on legal guardianship to the autobot leader, knowing he may have to fight to do this. Optimus smiled widely, his spark surged with a newfound joy.

"You are doing this to help us?" Fowler questioned in disbelief. The special agent had no idea how close Ratchet had become to Carmine, but it was obvious the two had talked a lot more than either would disclose.

"I told him everything about how they want to remove Sari from us and the threat Attinger is to the entire team. After everything she's been through, I do not believe it best to remove her from this base," Ratchet answered.

"She needs to be here but if it was not for Prime, I may feel differently about this. I can't do for her what he can do. She needs someone to protect her from the Decepticons, I can only hide her and run until we get caught, Sari deserves better than that. As long as she is happy, safe and cared for that is the most important thing," Carmine admitted.


	13. 13

Her Family is Gone

AB. I'm back, hopefully as the semester winds down I will have more time for this close to Christmas. I have no intention of leaving this work since I have spent a lot of time planning this out and working on it. Without further ado, Peace and Love.

13

When Charlotte stepped into the room carrying Sari, the discussion stopped and Optimus decided it would be a good time for the child to meet the rest of the team. With Carmine and Charlotte sitting next to her and Optimus standing in plain sight each of the other bots came into the med-bay one at a time to officially meet Sari. Surprisingly she was not afraid of the others like she was Ratchet but her reaction to Bumblebee was priceless. When the mech spoke, Sari heard familiar sounds but understood what he said to her just as easily as she did with the others. The two of them talked for a long time, Bumblebee telling Sari all about what he liked to do and some of the mischief he and Raf got into. Bulkhead apologized to her, which Sari did not understand but everyone else knew it was from the immense guilt for not picking her up that day. The wrecker hated believing he could've saved her the fear and injury, if only he had been there on time with Miko. Bulkhead felt as if Sari was under his protection, just as Miko is. He failed one of his charges and it was not something the wrecker would overcome quickly. The child asked him questions about music and if he liked to paint. Her idea gave Bulkhead the inspiration to try painting, something he hoped to include her in. By the time Arcee came in Sari asked the blue femme to tell her a story, which she fell asleep to being completely exhausted with all the introductions and excitement. Instead of being hurt by Sari falling asleep, Arcee smiled understanding it was a sign of trust, a step in the right direction. Arcee touched the side of her face gently before exiting the med-bay without another word. Ratchet talked more with Agent Fowler addressing his concerns about Fanzone and Prime's actions.

"Whether they like it or not, I believe this is Sari's home now and the team may become her family," Ratchet mused aloud before joining the others in the med-bay.

Months passed and slowly Sari regained her mobility, it took time and a lot of patience on Ratchet's part but the child healed and began acting normal again. To Ratchet's dismay Sari's voice did not heal and gave no indication it would ever come back to her. She had adjusted to not hearing her own voice, but it still bothered Ratchet that she had to lose a part of who she was because of Knock-Out's actions. As her body became stronger, her fear of them weigned and the girl became friends with Bulkhead and Bumblebee especially. Optimus Prime began doing more of his normal duties and the team began looking after Sari more and more. The medic wanted to get Sari out of the med-bay since she no longer needed constant supervision and wondered how opposed Prime would be to setting up her room within his, since the leader still stayed with the youngling in the med-bay so she wouldn't be alone in the massive room. When Ratchet approached the subject both agreed to it quickly, Sari deciding against the offer of her own room separate among the other huge rooms in the base. Whether Prime saw it or not Sari felt safe with the leader and would probably still be terrified of all of them if it weren't for the bond she shared with Prime.

Ratchet tended to fill the caretaker and disciplinarian role when Optimus left her with the team, lately Agent Fowler has needed the leader to be at many of his meetings and Ratchet kept this fact away from Sari as best he could since it often worried her. The worse reaction by far came from the realization of the leader's absence overnight and the child did not handle the news well. The medic knew Sari would be upset, but her outburst shocked him. Sari had a tantrum crying and throwing things at the wall, until Ratchet intervened and she turned her anger at him. "You need to calm down." Ratchet sat her in a corner. "Sit here until you calm down. I understand you're upset, but this is not acceptable behavior." After she finished screaming at the wall, Sari came back into the med-bay and sat down on the edge of the platform bringing her knees to her chest. Ratchet looked at Sari and was reminded of how small and young she truly is. Her reaction was one of fear, Sari was terrified of losing Optimus or something bad happening again.

"Is he coming back? I know they want to take me and that is why he's been gone so much with Agent Flower," Sari stated quietly as if she did not intend for Ratchet to hear.

"Don't worry about Optimus. He will be back before you wake in the morning young one. I don't think he enjoys being away from you any more than you do," Ratchet responded.

"He's not going to hurt me! Why can't they understand that? I don't want to leave here. Why don't they ask me what I want?" Sari spoke genuinely, she truly wanted to be here with them.

"They just worry for your safety, we're big and scary to them and possibly dangerous to a child in their minds. No matter what they think, you aren't going anywhere. Optimus will not allow it to happen and neither will I," Ratchet hoped to soothe her with his admission and it placated her for the moment at least.

"They aren't going to hurt him are they?" Sari asked timidly.

Ratchet shook his helm. "Prime is tougher than he looks and would do anything for his team. Would it ease your processor if we called him?" When Sari nodded quickly, the medic lifted her up and took her over to the console placing her on the keyboard before calling the leader. "Optimus, it's Ratchet if you can't get this and you are still in a meeting can you respond as soon as possible… It is not of great urgency but Sari would like to speak with you." Once the reason for the call became apparent Optimus Prime responded, Ratchet smiled at Sari who had begun to pout at Prime's lack of response from her perspective. "Why don't you leave part of the message Sari? Tell Optimus what you want him to hear."

"I just wanted to make sure you're alright. If they did something bad to you, I don't know what I would do. I hope they aren't being mean to you," Sari spoke quietly.

"Do not worry young one, I'm alright. Agent Fowler is here and we're just in boring meetings, I would rather be there with you," Optimus stated trying to ease the girls worries.

"When will you be back?" Sari questioned, her voice glitching revealing her emotions.

"Sometime tomorrow, hopefully this will be the last of these meetings. Maybe you could stay with Ratchet or one of the others tonight, if you do not want to be in the room on your own. Only if it is alright with them though. I have to go Sari, but I will see you in the morning," Prime promised.

"See you," Sari muttered as the call ended and they both felt the emptiness of the leader's absence. She leant against Ratchet and the medic lifted her up slowly and returned her to the platform where she sat before.


	14. 14

Her Family is Gone

AB- It has been almost a year since I have sat to work on this and a lot of stuff has happened. I'm officially a college grad and I just recently got a permanent position with the company I work for. I still plan on working on this story slowly, and doing edits in the mean time. Without further ado, here's another update

14

The medic stared at the monitor, looking at the life signs of each of their teammates marking various points on the map, where they patrolled various sites of decepticon activity, Knock-Out, Breakdown and Starscream had been mobilizing and no one could figure out why. Ratchet had begun to believe they were trying to draw them out of scare Prime into moving Sari out of the base where Megatron cannot find her and finally opening her up for another attack. "Can I stay with you tonight?" Sari asked, taking Ratchet's attention away from the monitor and forcing him to look at her.

"If it will help you recharge better. I believe Bulkhead and Bumblebee were going to have movie night with you, maybe you should pick one out before they get back," Ratchet answered, hoping to distract the girl for a little while to get her mind off things. Sari got up and left Ratchet alone to continue watching the monitor, opening the comm-link to talk with the others to see how things were doing. "Everything quiet out there?" The medic questioned, hoping one of the three would answer.

"Nothing on my end, as much as I'm enjoying the scenery I would rather being hanging out with our resident sparkling," Bulkhead responded quickly.

"Same here, I was on Knock-Out's tailpipe for a while but he is gone now. The cons usually aren't this active and mask their signals better," Bumblebee added.

"There has to be a reason why," Ratchet sighed loudly.

"The cons are trying to draw us out. Knock-Out knows they cannot get Sari as long as she is kept out of reach in our base. He's hoping to get her alone and having us distracted is the first step to that. If you two are clear, go and spend the night with Sari," Arcee spoke strategically, deciding to continue following Starscream's trail.

"Don't have you tell me twice," Bulkhead responded waiting for Ratchet to bridge him back to their base. When he finally did, the wrecker found Sari sitting with Bumblebee in the makeshift living room. The child was being held by the yellow mech as she chattered on about the movie she picked for them to watch. Instead of interrupting them Bulkhead decided to check on Ratchet. "Hey Mama Ratchet, how's our little one doing without Papa Prime?"

Ratchet jumped slightly. "Not well, she is worried about him and what they keep talking with him about. Sari does not want to be alone in the room so I think tonight she will bunk with me," the medic explained.

"They aren't giving it up are they?" Bulkhead questioned.

"No and I doubt they will anytime soon. Agent Fowler may have the best intentions at heart but the rest of them don't, all I can say is that the child will not be leaving here. Not unless Optimus or myself are with her," Ratchet spoke firmly. Even though the medic was far from violent or a fighter, he already decided to protect Sari with everything he had in him. The bond the leader had with Optimus was natural, powerful and loving in a parental way(though Prime was not ready to admit it yet). Ratchet felt drawn to the child as well, they had a relationship built off a trust and even when everyone was around Sari remained close to him as she did with Optimus as if he made her feel the same security or something close to it.

"It's isn't just you and Prime. We all care about her, even Arcee. She's been keeping her distance but the femme has a soft spot for our sparkling as much as the rest of us do," Bulkhead added, "I'm going to go join them, don't worry about it too much Ratchet. Sari is in good hands and safer than she ever was before." Bulkhead patted Ratchet's back and stepped out of the med-bay to watch the movie with his friends.

Optimus was growing impatient, restless and anxious as these arguments went on. No one would listen to him or Agent Fowler and if it was not for Charlotte Mearing, the leader had no idea what he'd do without the presence of the blonde haired woman at his side. He would rather be at home with Sari, his sparkling missed him and he felt much the same. Although their sparks weren't bonded in the traditional way, Prime could sense Sari needing him and wondered if she understood the connection she had accidentally accessed. The leader sent waves of comfort, hoping his elation envisioning one of their hugs, would have the same effect on him as it did on her.

"You honestly believe a six year old little girl should be left alone in a remote base with a group of giant alien machines?" Attinger spat, glaring at Optimus. It was obvious to both Special Agents that none of the others wanted to deal with the Autobot leader and his presence only made things more complicated for them. "It is in Sari Sumdac's best interest to be removed away from Autobot custody and kept away from all aliens, by extension off Megatron's radar. A child needs love, human contact and these-" he spared a glance up and into Optimus' optics, "machines, cannot give that to her. No offense."

The Prime was about to argue when Agent Charlotte Mearing spoke for the first time, "You have no idea the amount of love Optimus and his team have for Sari, I've seen it and she has healed so much quicker because of it. All of you want to treat this as a cut and dry case of a human child being threatened by aliens, but Sari isn't. She is at least half cybertronian if not more and the only reason she has a birth certificate or any record of her existence at all was to keep her off our radar, while her father Isaac Sumdac protected her from a threat he could not handle on his own. I know what your ulterior motives are Attinger, you believe taking the child will quash rebellion and give you a level of control over Prime and his team. It won't, this is not a fight you'll win and continuing to fuss over a child who is perfectly safe and happy is not helping anyone, especially not said child."

"I've tried to understand and be understanding of your points, but there is nothing and no one who will take Sari from me. There is no other place I would rather be now than with her, if there is nothing I can do to relieve this stress, I believe we are done for the night," Prime stated in defeat.

"Tomorrow we will discuss the other children who are under your guardianship, since they are human and my issue," Attinger spoke up as Prime continued to walk to his quarters with the two Agents on either side of him.

Once they were in the huge room given to Prime the leader finally cried out, letting out some of his pent up emotions. He felt like his spark stopped and was froze, not only did they want to take his child from him, Attinger was going to use their allies against them "Easy Optimus, nothing is going to happen," Charlotte's usually clipped tone was filled with nothing but sympathy.

"They are not going to stop until Sari is in their custody and I can't let that happen, Attenger wants to experiment on her… I can just sense the disdain in his voice when he speaks of her and of my team. Tomorrow he is going to bring up Jack, Miko and Rafael since there is no justification of them being under our protection," Prime spoke and then suddenly the leader felt a certain calmness fill him. Something outside of himself shifted his emotions suddenly and he exhaled loudly, meeting William Fowler's gaze. "I know you might not understand, but I cannot allow that man to get his hands on Sari. I'd sooner take her into hiding than stand back while harm comes to her."

"She's basically your daughter Prime, I understand. Most parents would do anything for their child," Agent Fowler admitted.

The leader nodded just as Ratchet contacted him over the com-link. He answered immediately hoping nothing was wrong with Sari.

Sari had fell asleep at some point during the movie and Bumblebee did not have the spark to move her. Bulkhead had decided Sari could bunk with him if Ratchet was uncomfortable with it and the big mech planned on asking her what she would like before she went to sleep. Sari jolted suddenly, nearly startling Bumblebee with her quick movement. Both mech's wondered if she had a nightmare but before either of them could ask Sari called out, "Ratchet." The medic came from the med-bay quickly and took the girl from the scout. The red and white mech relaxed visibly and listened intently for Sari to tell them what happened.

"What is wrong youngling?" Ratchet soothed, trying his best to comfort and make Sari feel safe.

"We need to call Optimus," Sari spoke evenly like the girl was trying to keep her emotions in check.

"He's busy and we already talked to him," Ratchet responded, knowing talking with the leader only made her want him back there faster. Sari missed Optimus and hearing his voice again might only upset her more.

Sari shook her head, "No. We have to call him, something is wrong. I think he is angry. They are being mean to him."

"How do you know that?" Ratchet questioned.

"I feel it," Sari answered plainly.

"You feel it?" Ratchet questioned in shock. Sari nodded and Ratchet called Optimus without another word. "Prime, Sari wants to talk to you. She told me you're upset and that she needs to talk to you."

"Sari is correct, I'm upset but it is alright youngling. I should be back tomorrow before you have lunch, Agent Fowler thinks they should be done with us in the morning," Optimus spoke.

"No more meetings?" Sari questioned hopefully.

"Not about you. It is getting late, why don't you go ask Bumblebee to read you a story before bed?" Prime answered.

"Okay! Goodnight Optimus, I miss you," Sari exclaimed before running out of the med-bay and back to where Bumblebee and Bulkhead waited for her to return. Bulkhead held her while Bumblebee started to read a chapter book Miko had picked out for her. It seemed as if talking with Optimus was enough to ease her worry.

"What's going on Optimus?" Ratchet knew the leader was keeping something away from Sari.

"The stipulation for us keeping Sari is for the other children to be kept out of our base unless supervised by Agent Fowler or Mearing, since we cannot "claim them as our own" because they are human children," Optimus explained.

"So they want to leave three human children at the mercy of the Decepticons? Miko, Jack and Rafael are on their radar and that will not change even if we back off. This is just a tactic to hurt us, they know we care for these children but instead of looking out for all of their wellbeing they want to remove all of them from us." Ratchet began to understand the anger Prime felt. The medic began to think of all the horrors the Knock-Out and the other decepticons could inflict on the children, human as they were it would be even easier for them to be broken. Sari seemed to be more durable bouncing back when she shouldn't have, the child endured too much and he hoped it did not take a toll on her if they'd take her from her home.

"They want to limit our interaction with them. As much as this hurts me I'm willing to give in because we will still be guarding them and Sari will remain in our care," Prime responded.

"I understand Prime, but isn't there another way?" Ratchet questioned almost hopeful.

"I'm afraid not," Optimus sighed. Ratchet began to finish sorting through his tools and cleaning up his med-bay, the place still needed organized and it served as a distraction. "Try and enjoy your night Ratchet, everything will be fine. Take care of our sparkling, make sure she gets some recharge," Prime spoke fondly.

"I will," Ratchet promised. When Ratchet returned to where Sari sat with Bumblebee and Bulkhead, the child looked up at him and reached for him wanting to be held by her other guardian.

"I was going to ask if you'd want her to bunk with me or Bee tonight, but looks like we know the answer already," Bulkhead teased.

"Don't make me get my wrench," Ratchet threatened jokingly. "I think it is about time we all get some recharge," He stated before taking Sari toward Prime's quarters to grab her Pajamas and blanket. Once the girl went through her nightly routine Sari settled down on the makeshift bed Ratchet set up on the far side of his berth. "Ready for bed youngling?"

"Yes Ratchet," Sari's response came in quiet beeps and clicks.

"Get some sleep sweetspark, I'll be here when you wake up." Ratchet decided to catch up on some reading while Sari slept. He found himself reading more of Isaac Sumdac's writing and realized the accident of Sari's birth. The man had touched a protoform and blacked out from the shock, Sari copied his DNA to mimic his form becoming partially organic. Even from the start of her life, Sari had Isaac, her father who became committed to her safety from the second he regained consciousness and discovered a child with screaming red hair crying in his office. When he realized where she came from it became his mission to take care of her and keep her hidden from people who would take her away or do unspeakable things to the child.


End file.
